


It's Not You

by AokazuSei



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst, Grammar/Spelling Mistakes, M/M, OOC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-15
Updated: 2015-04-15
Packaged: 2018-03-23 00:25:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3748582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AokazuSei/pseuds/AokazuSei
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AkaKuro Week 2015 - Day 4: Who Are You?</p><p>Sometimes, the one you want to see the most is in a place you can't reach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It's Not You

It was silent, almost eerily so, but the faint gunshots in the back of his mind was close to comforting. His boots clacked against the sterile tiles while hoarse screams continued to play. The stench of antiseptic surrounded his senses like the overwhelming fragrance of iron.

He looked around, the hallway empty save for a couple of nurses and doctors running through. They were too busy to notice him, and immediately dismissed him when he tried to ask them, leaving him to wander around aimlessly. It was only when he saw a propped door, compared to the hallway of closed ones, that his curiosity got the better of him.

Lying on the bed was a sickly pale man, wires and tubes were abundant on his thin frame. He seemed to be asleep, but that proved to false when muddled sky blue eyes, orbs that complimented his cerulean hair, opened to stare at him.

He should have left, but he couldn’t bring himself to, leaving him to stand and return the glare with his own red ones. But then the dullness in azure eyes began to fade as tears welled in his eyes. Cracked lips moved, and even though he heard no sound, the words were clear in his mind.

_You came back._

As if it was addressed to him, he stepped inside the room.

Being only a few feet away, he noticed three things: 1) the man was young, around twenty years old yet no older than twenty-five at most, 2) he was half blind with milky white covering blue eyes like a thin veil of fog, and at last came 3) there was little time left for the man.

Pulling a chair beside the bedridden man, he sat, holding a bony thin hand in his much larger one. There was a flash of surprise, and an undertone of something more, though he couldn’t specifically note it. But it all ended when the teal man softly smiled, attempting to speak once more.

“I didn’t think you’d come here,” It was nothing more than an airy whisper.

He nodded once more but didn’t dare speak. It was obvious to him that the ailing man was seeing another person in his stead. Still, he did not want to ruin the illusion, leaving the two in a calming silence.

“I remember when you suddenly decided to bring me the hot springs. You thought it would be fun to switch my milkshakes with tofu flavored water,” Clouded eyes turned the other way, facing the window. “I got very annoyed, but then you surprised me by giving me Nigou. It was to celebrate my birthday, you said. I had forgotten about it.”

For the next few hours, he continued on, reminiscing random moments out loud.   

“The first time you did laundry simply left me speechless. I didn’t think it was possible for so many suds and bubbles to come out of the washing machine.”

Before the words trailed off into silence.

“We once danced in the rain when we were drunk, though we ended catching a cold.”  

All before the cycle repeated itself.

“The preschoolers looked forward to seeing you visit. I did too.”

But during that entire time, he didn’t speak, nor did blue eyes turn to look at him.

It would be during these long periods of stillness that his thoughts would return to the recent bloodshed. Hundreds of miles away, and yet the battlefield still haunted him. No one wanted this, him especially, yet if it weren’t for the draft, he would have been spared from the scars of bloodied bodies.

“Do you know what my favorite color is?”

He gave the pale man a curious look, still silent, though it didn’t seem the bluenette was expecting a response, for he continued.

“Red,” And for the first time, in the past few hours, did cerulean eyes turn to meet his gaze, no, it peered past his own. Blue eyes started to glisten, “Your red was the first color I fell in love with.”

Wet drops fell onto his hand.

“But now, I won’t be able to see your red anymore, will I?”

Teal tresses gently swayed as they turned away once more.

“I remembered when you first heard what happened. You got so angry that you screamed and cried, but you kept holding my hand the entire time,” There was a gentle squeeze of his palm. “Just like this.”

“Even when I laid in bed, you said you wouldn’t forgive me. Not until I got better.”

His voice became so quiet, fading away.  

“I won’t be getting better.”

Just like he was.

“And then you had to go away. So far… far away,” His breath hitched as another onslaught of tears ran down his face. “I keep waiting for you, but now… I feel so tired.”

It was swift, even for his conscious to note, but he soon found himself covering the latter’s eyes. Warm drops touched his palm as the man underneath tensed.

“Are you telling me to rest?”

There was no answer, but the sick man accepted it as such. His breaths gradually lessened as the minutes ticked by. It would only be a matter of time.

“I miss you so much.”

One last breath.

“I love you…”

He never heard the last word the dying man spoke because it was over; he wouldn’t wake up ever again.

Removing his hands from the cold body, he lowered his head, paying his final respect, before walking out of the room and closing the door behind him.

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

He turned to see a pink haired nurse behind him. A name tag was pinned to her uniform with _Momoi Satsuki_ printed in fine font.

“I’m glad you were able to be there for him though. He was getting lonely,” She was very sympathetic, almost empathetic. “It must have been terrible, watching your friend pass away.”

“We’re not friends. We barely met,” He spoke truthfully, yet after spending the past few hours with him, that sounded more like a white lie. “I just thought that he needed someone.”

“Oh,” Momoi blinked in surprise. “That was kind of you. But then, why are you here? No, more importantly, who are you?”

“My name is Kagami Taiga,” He introduced himself before taking out a slip of paper from his pocket, scanning the lines. “I’m looking for Akashi Tetsuya. I’m here to tell him that their husband, Akashi Seijuro, was killed in action.”

Hands immediately covered her mouth as her eyes instantly widened in horror, “Oh my god…”

“What’s wrong?” Kagami had no idea what had brought along the sudden change, but it wasn’t until he followed her line of sight that he joined her despair. The slip of paper fell silently to the floor, just a bit louder than the painful thumps in his chest.  

On the back of the closed door, the name _Akashi Tetsuya_ was written in neat cursive.

**Author's Note:**

> -Akashi was drafted in the war  
> -Guess what the last word Kuroko was going to say? Hint Hint, it’s a name that starts with a S  
> -The moment Kuroko held Kagami’s hand, he knew it wasn’t Akashi. But because he knew he was going to die, he wanted Akashi to be the last thing he remembered, which is why he spoke out loud as if he was there.


End file.
